London, Feb 09: The unique arithmetic of 21st century education has finally been revealed online as a British government-backed initiative offers students around the world a virtual UK education ending in a real degree from Cambridge, York or Sheffield universities.
But there is little talk so far of whether the graduation ceremony will be real or virtual.
UK e-Universities Worldwide (UkeU), which has just opened its online doors for the spring courses, is specifically aimed at "students who recognise the quality of a UK education but cannot access it", according to chief executive John Beaumont.
It comes just four months after MIT kickstarted what it hoped would be a global revolution in education by putting its courses online for free.
But unlike MIT’s attempt to stop the commercialisation of online education, UKeU says it is setting out to enhance its quality by offering what it trendily terms "best of breed courses from some of the UK’s best-known universities".
Unlike the MIT’s no-degree online initiative, the students end up with real degrees at the end of the elearning period. UKeU claims a first in that "degrees are awarded by the university offering the course".
It says this makes it "significantly different from other Internet-taught degrees where degrees are awarded by an internet university".
In effect, goes the marketing buzz, it offers everyone, everywhere, the possibility of becoming a Cambridge graduate without leaving the confines of, say, Coimbatore or Canberra.
But realists point out that UKeU courses are unlike the MIT philanthropic project in another key way as well: they will cost the same as conventional university degrees.
The new elearning drive is a joint initiative between the British government and 12 universities, supported by one of the world’s leading IT companies, Sun Microsystems.
Experts say a sophisticated software platform is key to maintaining standards in a distance learning course, something UKeU itself boasts about. It says its platform will help it do things as mundane as rapping the teacher over the virtual knuckles for tardy "responsiveness to a student E-mail."
The e-university bluntly says, "In an eLearning world it is necessary for there to be clearly set expectations (though) in traditional environments there is not always a clear service level."
The British government has invested 62 million pounds in what ministers say will make "the UK the leading producer of quality on-line higher education".
Students, who will never be in tutor groups larger than 30, will be able to study online or approach authorised local partners in their home countries for help. Some degree courses will end with traditional examinations in bricks-and-mortar buildings near the student’s home.
The project, which was first announced by former education secretary David Blunkett three years ago, is set to enrol students for three specific courses this spring. These are: a Cambridge postgraduate certificate in learning in the connected economy, a York University Masters in Public Policy and Management and an MSc in Information Technology from Sheffield Hallam University.
UKeU comes as Britain tries to leapfrog to the top of Europe’s educational league tables by spending large sums on developing a so-called Curriculum Online with interactive digital technology for use in all its schools.
Bureau Report
